Cross Country: Foster, Joseph Lead Ragin’ Cajuns at SLU Pre-Conference Meet
Louisiana produces 28 top-3 performances in final tuneup before SBC Championships
Matt Sullivan | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
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HAMMOND – Kiana Foster and John Joseph each turned in a pair of first-place performances while the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Track and Field team turned in 28 top-3 finishes as it made its final tuneup before the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Saturday in Southeastern Louisiana’s Pre-Conference Meet at the Southeastern Track Complex.
Foster and Ta’La Spates each etched their names in the Ragin’ Cajuns Track and Field record books with impressive times in the women’s 100-meter dash while Louisiana recorded 12 first-place finishes in the five-team meet.
Brock Appiah, Nathan Fergusson, Chandler Mixon, Serenity Rogers, Shonita Brome, Osayi Omorodion and Kennedy Washington each recorded first-place finishes in their respective events while freshman Ashley McMillin tied a personal-best mark and fifth-best performance in the women’s discus.
Foster, competing nearby to her hometown (Amite, La.), clocked a time of 11.23 seconds in the women’s 100-meter dash to lead a 1-2-3 finish for Louisiana and post the fastest time by a Ragin’ Cajun sprinter since Twilet Malcolm’s school-record 11.17 in 1993. Spates finished second in the event at 11.54 – tied for the fourth-fastest time in school history – with Johneisha George finishing third at 11.71.
Foster added a first-place time in the women’s 200-meters for Louisiana at 23.73 with Spates finishing third at 24.32.
Rogers led a 1-2-3-4 performance for Louisiana in the women’s 100-meter dash after clocking a first-place time of 13.62 with Reagann Leleux (14.03), Kennedy London (14.17) and Juliette Smith (14.23) following. Brome notched a first-place time for Louisiana in the women’s 400-meter hurdles for Louisiana (1:02.22) with Reina Ryan finishing third overall in the women’s 400-meters (56.14).
The women’s 4×100-meter relay team of London, Spates, Rogers and Foster posted a first-place time of 45.01 seconds to win by nearly two seconds over second-place Central Arkansas.
Washington claimed the women’s high jump for Louisiana after clearing the bar at 5-6 with Frankie Griffin (5-6) and Taylor Davis (5-6) each finishing fourth and Smith (5-4 ¼) sixth. Omorodion recorded a mark of 19-1 ¼ to claim the women’s long jump for Louisiana with Ariel Young (39-6), Davis (39-1 ¾) and Kaprecia Cowans (38-6 ¾) earning a 2-3-4 finish in the women’s triple jump.
Maria Bienvenu finished fourth overall in the women’s javelin for Louisiana (158-4) with McMillin finishing fourth overall in the women’s discus (145-4).
Joseph claimed both the men’s long jump (24-4 ½) and triple jump (50-8) for Louisiana with Mixon claiming the men’s pole vault (16-10 ¾). Mixon added a second-place finish in the men’s 110-meter hurdles for Louisiana (14.17) with Tahj Whitfield finishing third (14.30).
Appiah claimed the men’s 100-meters for Louisiana with a time of 10.36 while Fergusson claimed the men’s 400-meter hurdles (51.50). Freshman Tyren Hannah posted a fourth-place mark (154-8) in the men’s discus for the Ragin’ Cajuns and was fifth in the shot put (52-11 ½).
Louisiana will return to competition on May 13-15 at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships in Mobile, Ala. The three-day meet will be streamed live on ESPN�.
